Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on each reform set out in her Department's Written Ministerial Statement on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, of 21 November 2024, HCWS244.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

On 31 January 2025, provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 to remove the two-year qualifying period in relation to enfranchisement and lease extensions came into force.

On 10 February, we laid regulations in Parliament to implement the reforms contained in the Act concerning the Right to Manage and these will come into force on Monday 3 March.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor and report on water usage by Small Modular Reactors.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Sustainable water usage is a crucial factor in the siting of any industry including small modular reactors, and for enabling a low carbon, secure energy infrastructure. The Environment Agency regulates water abstraction in England. The information provided therefore relates to England only.

Prospective operators of small modular reactors that plan to abstract water from inland or tidal waters are required, like any other operator, to apply to the Environment Agency for an abstraction licence (Apply for a water abstraction or impounding licence - GOV.UK).

The Environment Agency will assess whether the water catchment can support the proposed abstraction at the pre-application stage. If it determines that the catchment can support the abstraction, then it will issue a licence to the prospective operator, which will require monitoring and reporting of abstraction volumes. This data is used by its environmental planning teams in the strategic assessment of water resource availability.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of Small Modular Reactors on water security.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Sustainable water usage is a crucial factor in the siting of any industry including energy generation by small modular reactors. Cooling options for small modular reactors and their abstraction requirements are still under consideration by the industry and regulators including direct wet cooling.

Small modular reactors are one of the key industrial technologies being considered in the Environment Agency’s planning for water resource security. It has recently commissioned work to help improve the collaboration between the water and energy sectors and is advising the National Energy System Operator on environmental and water resource capacity and opportunities, as part of the development of the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of funding pay increases from school budgets on levels of (a) teachers and (b) teaching assistants.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion in 2025/26.

Of this £2.3 billion increase, almost £1 billion is being allocated to high needs budgets. The outstanding £1.3 billion will cover the remaining mainstream costs of the 2024 teachers’ pay award in the 2025/26 financial year, as well as an increase to the mainstream schools national funding formula, and any increases to other elements of core funding.

On 10 December 2024, the department published our written evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) to inform their recommendations for teachers’ pay in the 2025/26 academic year, which proposed a pay award of 2.8% for teachers. We expect that schools will also take into consideration the cost of support staff pay in the 2025/26 financial year. Schools will be expected to fund the 2025 teacher pay award from the additional investment provided at the Budget, alongside their existing funds. Most schools will need to supplement the new funding they receive with efficiencies in their budgets. The balance between new funding and efficiencies will vary at individual school level depending on their circumstances. It will continue to be for individual schools to decide how they spend their budgets, including on the balance between spending on teachers, support staff, including teaching assistants, and non-pay expenditure.

To support schools towards identifying efficiencies, the department is developing a suite of new productivity initiatives in partnership with the sector. This will complement the free support already available to schools, including new support to make budgets go further across technology, procurement, banking services and energy contracts. For example, we have already seen from our pilot that the 400 schools who have participated in the department’s ‘Energy for Schools’ offer will save 36% on average compared to their previous energy contracts.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Spending Review funding for (a) grassroots music venues, (b) music education and innovation and (c) the night-time culture economy.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

My department talks to HM Treasury about a range of matters all the time, including support for the Creative Industries and music sector

Right to peaceful protest

Garforth Residents' Campaign Against Giggle Fibre Telegraph Pole Installations

Educationally subnormal schools in the 1960s and 1970s

Israel’s military presence in the West Bank

Found: _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis Nadia Whittome Grahame

Found: _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis Nadia Whittome Grahame

Found: _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis Nadia Whittome Grahame

Found: Friday 28 February 2025 4 _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis

Found: Thursday 27 February 2025 4 _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis

Found: Wednesday 26 February 2025 4 _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis

Found: _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis Nadia Whittome Grahame

Found: _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis Nadia Whittome Grahame

Found: _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis Nadia Whittome Grahame